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I am not really breaking my boundary.
Truth? Or lie?
This little bite won’t matter beyond satisfied.
Truth? Or lie?
God doesn’t really care about my eating.
Truth? Or lie?
I have been exercising so I deserve to eat this.
Truth? Or lie?
What do each of these statements, said in an attempt to justify eating outside of my boundaries, have in common?
They are all lies.
Most of the time we violate our boundaries, it starts in the seed of a lie. We may call it “justifying,” but it is, simply, lying to ourselves.
Since this study is about being transformed by the renewing of our minds, since we have been evaluating the lies that we believe and rejecting these lies and replacing them with truth, one of the best places to look is the tiny little “mistruths” we tell ourselves that erode our resolve to live according to our boundaries.
I have asked everyone participating in this study (and even those of you not in this study may want to do this) to evaluate: Are you convinced that God is calling you to the primary boundary of eating within the parameter of physical hunger and satisfaction? 0 and 5?
Many of us, in a moment of clarity, were convinced that God was calling us to this. We don’t want to lose sight of that. Anything we tell ourselves that minimizes that conviction should be scrutinized. Here is a video about this:
This week’s assignment:
1.) How about settling this question in your mind: Are you convinced that God is calling you to 0 to 5 eating or eating within the parameter of physical hunger and satisfaction? If you are convinced that this is GOD’s call to you, jot it down in your journal: “I know God is calling me to eat within 0 and 5” or other statement that reflects your conviction. Date it. If you did this last week, go to the place in your journal where you wrote it down and write today’s date with an affirmation that you are recommitting to 0 and 5. This is important. If we aren’t convinced that this boundary is what GOD is calling us to, then we will rationalize and justify a million reasons not to live according to it!
In a moment of clarity, when we aren’t tempted, we prayerfully welcome God to convict our hearts about the boundaries HE has for us. Whatever these may be, we want to establish a way of remembering this moment. It is important and will serve as a guiding principle for our lives!
2.) Evaluate your secondary boundaries that you established last week. If you are doing just fine with those, you may want to ask God to show you another boundary to add or to trade out or modify. Remember, secondary boundaries support you in maintaining your ability to abide by your primary boundary of 0 and 5. Jot down in your journal what your new (or revised) secondary boundaries will be.
3.) Go to Barb Raveling’s website and read and complete the study she has on Justification Eating found here by jotting the answers down in your journal. As when we did this study last spring, it will be helpful for us to remember that Barb isn’t a Thin Within participant. Please don’t be thrown off by her reference to “calories.” Keep focused on what God has led you to do and invite him to show you the benefit you can glean from her material! It is great stuff! We just have to skip over some dieting jargon from time to time.
4.) List in your journal 5-10 “small lies” you tell (or have told) yourself to justify eating outside of your primary boundary of 0 and 5.
5.) Beneath each lie you have exposed, write down the TRUTH in that situation. If you find this helpful, continue the process, stopping every 5 to 10 of these to be sure to write the corresponding TRUTH down for each.
6.) Journal: If you start telling yourself the truth about your eating, will it affect how diligently you follow your primary and secondary boundaries? Are you willing to do this today? If not, why not?
7.) What food or eating experience are you most likely to justify going outside of your primary boundary (of eating 0 to 5) in order to experience?
For example: I love to go out to almost any restaurant for Mexican food. I know that when I sit down to the meal, I will eat enough chips and salsa to no longer be hungry, yet I still want to eat some of the meal when it arrives. I tend to tell myself “I am still hungry” when the meal comes to justify eating as much as I would have if I hadn’t eaten any chips to start with!
7.) Strategize what you can do about this situation.
For example: I will ask the server to bring the chips with the meal and consider it part of my portion.
Or:
When the chips arrive, I will takego to the restroom and take a time out. This will cut into the amount of time that I will have eating chips and salsa before the meal arrives. I will use the time in the restroom to review my truth cards (if I have them with me) or to remember what is true about my boundaries and the joy I have when I live according to them. When I get back to the table, I will slow my eating of chips or intentionally have only 5 or 10 chips with salsa. I will remind myself of the truth that I rejoice in living within my God-given boundaries.
8.) List things that are true whenever you have broken your 0 to 5 eating boundaries. How do you feel when you break your 0 to 5 boundaries? What does it do for you? List what is true about breaking your 0 and 5 boundaries so that when you are considering breaking your boundaries with your justification, you can look at your list of how you feel *after* you have broken your boundaries and remember! You might want to add this list to your TRUTH cards. “When I eat outside of my boundaries, I _____________”
For example: After I have broken my 0 to 5 eating boundaries, I am filled with regret. After I have broken my 0 to 5 eating boundaries, I worry that I won’t stop. The joy of eating outside of my boundaries is momentary compared to the time spent frustrated with myself.
How is justification eating telling yourself a lie? What truths can you tell yourself when you are faced with a moment of decision about whether or not to give in to the temptation to eat outside of your boundaries?
Note: If you are just joining us, you can go to this page and see what we have done so far. Come on along!
10.) As a final part of the assignment, consider posting here some of the things that God showed you about the lies you tell yourself and the truth to counter those lies…OR anything else that you may want to share with others. If you have a question feel free to post it here as well! 🙂
I think, for me, the biggest thing God is showing me is that I don’t need to take care of myself. I can trust him to provide food when and where I need it. I have thousands of eating occasions left. Hallelujah!
sudebaker!! your comments have hit me right between the eyes!!!!!! I have trusted God with my finances and He has proven over and over again, I will always have more than I need. Why, oh why, is it so hard for me to trust Him in this area of food! I’m going to be working on that. I love everything you say!!! And, yes, me too!! Have thousands of eating occasions left. Halleluja!!!!!
Woo hoo! We’re all on this journey together 🙂 We’re gonna make it.
Isn’t that the TRUTH, Sudebaker? Sometimes I act as though there is only THIS eating occasion left in life and so I must make the MOST of it. That is a lie. There are thousands left. You are so right! Thanks for the reminder!
Thank you for the reminder. It truly is so easy in our mind’s eye to see ourselves being obedient until we’re hungry or gone past hungry. Praying today for the reigns to be pulled by the Holy Spirit as I go through my day & for those of you on this same journey.
Thanks for the prayers. I know we ALL need them! 🙂
I am going to try to come back later and post what God has showed me on the lies. I will probably work on that later today or tonight; however, I have to say Heidi your video is awesome!!! I love the 1st time you flip out, the guitar example and the grown up temper tantrum!!!! I love how real you are! Thanks for always keeping it real for us cause I gotta tell you I may not do the temper tantrum out loud but my spirit can relate! 🙂
LOL, Adriane! Thanks! I hope you will find time to come on back and share the things that God has put on your heart. Thanks for the encouragement about this silly video. LOL! I am getting a bit more “comfortable” in front of the camera. I don’t know what that thing at the end was, but I couldn’t edit it out. I was being a dork. Had to share it.
Oh!! Heidi!!!! What perfect timing! I’m so glad I took time to check my email before I left today. I’ve been studying and going over my lesson. In 30 minutes, the ladies here in Maquoketa are meeting for the 12th lesson, and final one for the summer. It is our 3rd TW session here in Maquoketa!! We are going to be taking a couple of months off in the summer, then ready to hit it again in the fall. What wonderful timing for me to share this with all of them. I have told them all about your site, but not sure how many are “lurking”. 🙂 I’m thinking this study will be just what some of them are looking for this summer!! So, get ready for some more mid-westerners to join your group. Blessings to you, dear one. I just LOVED your video!!! Thank you for all you do!! Love YOU!! Dalena
I hope they will join in, Dalena! 🙂 And I hope they will post and let us know that they are here. Thank you for your faithful service, too!
Psalm 120:2
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Psalm 120:2
2 Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips,
From a deceitful tongue.
This was excellent word and video Heidi….I needed this exhortation for my week ahead. I’m determined to recommit to 0-5 eating.
My new secondary boundary is no candy next to my chair in the tv room….removed temptation 2 days ago! My husband did the same. Praise God for his prompting us. He is sooo good. : )
Enjoying our new freedom in Christ Jesus.
Amen, Jamie, to recommitting. Great idea to adjust the candy next to the chair. How wonderful that the two of you are linking arms on this journey, too.
This was great Heidi. I loved the tantrum – I can picture you as a 2 year old :).
This reminded me that it is Not worth it to break my boundaries. I have written some truth about this in my truth cards to read daily. I also reassessed my secondary boundaries. I changed one to include more praise fests and prayer. I have been focusing on myself and body too much lately and have taken my eyes off of God.
I see that the boundary of 0-5 is a gift from God and all of His gifts are good. I will thank Him for the gift of internal signals and that I don’t have to count calories, points, calories burned, watch carbs etc. His way must be the best as He is the creator of all, right?
I just have to say – not only have I gotten so much today from Heidi’s message to us, and the group I shared it with felt the same, but my goodness, I’m being blessed over and over by all the wonderful comments. What a great group of women!! I thank God for each of you and your willingness to share. I thank God for today!!
What an excellent point, Carrie. If we begin to focus on our bodies again and find ourselves discontent, maybe we need to infuse our lives with God List and Praise Fest and just start focusing on God through Gratitude and Praise!
Heidi, that’s the best video yet! I loved the tantrums, but I also loved how you asked the hard questions. I even heard myself say out loud, “Ouch!” I wrote down a couple of the hard questions you asked to be in my truth cards because they are really good questions to ask when I am tempted to eat outside of my boundaries. Also, I wrote a short note to myself in my truth cards (and dated it) explaining that God hasn’t given me peace to do anything aside from 0-5. I’m updating my truth cards today.
Thanks, Christina. I am glad that it was helpful. Barb Raveling is my inspiration. I find her material so straightforward. I admire that… I tend to beat around the bush a lot…with myself and with others. I think God wants us to redeem the time. We can’t afford to mince words if there is something we need to deal with!
The video is no longer there. It is a song clip. Was not able to view yesterday. 🙁
I just clicked it and it worked, Joyce. Would you mind trying again? Let me know, ok? Thanks.
I watched the video this morning. Yesterday was Canada Day, our equivalent to the 4th of July, so I was out all day. Heidi, I wanted to reach into the video and give you a big hug. I really needed to hear what you said and the tantrum made me say “ouch”. Thank you! I know I have been justifying extra bites, shutting out the voice of the Holy Spirit, and convincing myself the few extras don’t matter. I even tell myself, “Hey, I’m eating a lot less now and these extra bites are healthy food. I’m consistently releasing some pounds, so it’s okay.” I’ve been missing the point that the Holy Spirit is telling me I’ve had sufficient, just as I asked, and I’m ignoring His good counsel. I’ve confessed my sin, asked for forgiveness, and thanked God for His patience and continued provision, including Monday’s blog and video. I’ve recommitted to 0 – 5 eating and will keep my secondary boundaries in place because they are working for me when I choose to stay within the boundaries which God has set for me. I’ve made notes in my journal and started on the assignment in my notebook. Reading everyone’s comments has been a blessing.
Thanks for your open honesty, Sheila. I appreciate it. The thing about the videos…there is nothing in them that God isn’t dealing with me about…OVERTIME! LOL!
Just finished up the assignment from Monday. I love printing it out and working though it all in my journal. Helps me a lot!!! Here is a lie I tell myself. In fact I lied to me Sunday night. Lie: what I ate was not satisfying. I had ice cream from 0 to 5. But I really want something that will sustain me like my leftover Chinese food. Since I ate junk I need real food…just a little bit. ( side note- once over a 5 and eating it is hard to stop). TRUTH aka what I wish I had told myself: I am at a 5 so I don’t need to eat more. That will just make me feel guilty. Learn to be obedient to what your body wants at a 0 instead of eating foods that don’t satisfy your body.
Great observation and correction, Adriane!
Heidi – I do have a question. Often, I will find myself hungry/at or approaching 0 well before, say, lunchtime or dinner. The hunger is real. But I wait bc it’s not a convenient time to wait, or I want to eat with my family. It may be 1-2 hours later that I finally eat. By the time I am ready to eat, my stomach has grumbled in the past, but not at the moment that I sit down. I’m pretty sure I’m at a 0. But, am I? Sometimes I don’t hit a 5 (there are times I know just when to stop and others that I’m not sure), but I am putting smaller portions on my plate. Ill usually finish the plate, but not get seconds. I don’t feel “full” at the end of the meal, like I ate past 6. I don’t want to be “starving” myself, but I don’t want to overeat. Make sense? Your thoughts?
When I know I am hungry and I am riding out the 0 for some reason, I don’t mind sitting down to eat as planned. It can make experiencing a clear 5 tougher, but that is when I just eat even less than I might otherwise, since I don’t trust myself! Does that make sense? I don’t think we can under-eat if we typically eat when we are hungry with the occasional “riding of the 0” and a modest meal at 0. I would say if you drop a lot of weight (since you aren’t carrying much, if any extra weight) and can’t put your finger on it, then that might be what is going on, but until that happens, you are probably doing great!
I am finally finishing up week 3 on this study. It was hard to work on during my recent travels, but I’m not giving up. The justification eating questions that were a part of this week hit me between the eyes. They really help me to put things in perspective. I’m printing them out and putting them on my refrigerator. =)
That is awesome Senkyoushi!I am so blessed to hear that you continue to make your way through the material and that you found those questions helpful. Barb Raveling has definitely made a profound impact on my life. Her questions are so direct, penetrating, cutting through my garbage to the truth.